We Remember to Honor Those Who Served Us

By JONATHAN BURKE

Monday is not a day off for veterans. It is a day when they recall
the cruelty of war.

"It stirs up a lot of the emotions. A lot of people are not
aware of some of the feelings that vets have. We fought for our freedom,
but also so we could come back home," said a two-tour Army veteran
of Vietnam during a Wednesday evening interview. "Sometimes people
can be very cruel."

"For me, it's a day of the dead. It's the day the
bodies come back," said a two-tour Marine veteran.

Both men are members of a counseling group for Vietnam combat
veterans run by the Island Counseling Center (ICC), an agency of
Martha's Vineyard Community Services. Thirty years after Vietnam,
both men are still in many ways living the reality that became a part of
their lives when their country asked for their service at the ages of 18
and 19.

You will find no people more patriotic and willing to sacrifice, and
none more aware of war's truths.

"Somebody lives and somebody dies. My emotions get stirred up.
I think about the guys that didn't make it back," said the
Army vet, who served as door-gunner on a helicopter gunship. His job was
to prep landing zones for incoming troops. He came home alive, he said,
because he killed people before they killed him.

"You'd be dropping guys 10 feet in front of you,"
said the Marine veteran, who stopped counting at five enemy killed. He
lived with his squad in a hamlet. Their job was to keep the Viet Cong
(VC) out. The VC recruited new fighters from the hamlets and came for
food and rest.

These were not experiences that could easily be filed away when they
returned home. Vietnam, said the Marine, is like television with a
picture in the picture. It constantly plays through his mind.

The thoughts of the two veterans are constantly infused with their
experience in Vietnam.

On Veterans Day, they said, "People should understand that
every day someone's out there patrolling your perimeter,"
and "People in the United States need to be aware of what they
have around them. What they have is what the vets allowed them to
have."

They want America to understand them. They want them to know why
they hit the bottle when they returned from Vietnam, why they could not
cope with their return to society.

They said they think that Sept. 11, the sniper attacks and the
threat of Iraq have clued America in to what is real for them.

"A lot of people escaped that building, but they brought those
memories out with them. They're going to be frightful," said
the Army veteran.

"The people in this country have lived so well for so long.
They don't know what it's like," said the Marine.

About 15 combat veterans belong to the Island support group. Tom
Bennett, program director for ICC and a litter bearer for the wounded
during Vietnam, said his job is to help the veterans move forward in
life.

"When somebody is traumatized by the war experience, they
develop certain habits that prevent them from being able to fully
experience life," he said.

Things they understand all too well are anger and the motivation to
kill for extremist views, he said.

Members of the support group who spoke with the Gazette indicated an
inner withdrawal. But that is the opposite of what is needed to move
forward, said Mr. Bennett.

His advice to people traumatized by war: "People need to be
there for each other. A lot of contact with people you trust and feel
safe with. The second most important thing is to do something and do it
with others. Do something that makes meaning out of the experience, like
make a donation to a family of a victim of a tragedy."

A example, he said, was how the community rallied around the
families of the two young men who drowned in Sengekontacket last month.
"To me, that represents the Vineyard," he said.

Mr. Bennett said he hoped the nation would reflect on Veterans Day.
"I think we should be reflecting on how much all the men and women
who have served have meant and mean to us, and how necessary it is to
have that protection," he said. And he suggested that a sense of
gratitude is essential.

"Life is precious. It's not infinite," he said.